Shoplifter's family sues Wal-Mart, deputy, security company over shooting death

By Robert Stanton |
March 7, 2013
| Updated: March 7, 2013 8:39pm

The family of a shoplifter who was shot and killed last December by an off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the sheriff's deputy and the security company that hired him.

Shelly Marie Frey was killed in the Dec. 6 shooting. The off-duty deputy, Louis Campbell, told investigators he feared for his safety when he shot into a car and struck her, saying the driver tried to run him over.

Herschel P. Cashin, an attorney for Frey's famiily, said the officer's actions did not necessitate deadly force.

"We allege that this conduct was extremely excessive, unreasonable and grossly negligent," the lawsuit states. "Their policies and procedures should not be to kill a person for shoplifting."

Frey, 27, and two friends entered the Walmart at 10411 North Freeway and allegedly stuffed merchandise into their purses, according to the lawsuit filed by Cashin.

Store loss-prevention officers alerted Campbell and instructed him to detain the women. When he confronted them as they were leaving the store, one allegedly hit him with her purse and ran to the parking lot, the lawsuit says. Sheriff's office officials said that woman was Frey.

Children were in car

Campbell followed the women to a car, where Frey got into the passenger seat and the driver pulled off, according to the lawsuit.

Campbell fired his weapon at least twice, striking Frey twice in the neck, according to the lawsuit. Cashin said two children were inside the vehicle when Campbell fired.

According to sheriff's office reports at the time, when Campbell followed the women to the car, he opened the car door and ordered Frey to get out, but she refused.

Two others arrested

The driver began to drive away while Campbell was standing between the open door and the driver's seat. She put the car in reverse and tried to run over the deputy, sheriff's office officials said. Campbell then opened fire.

Soon after, someone called 911 to report a woman with a gunshot wound was in a car in a parking lot of a nearby apartment complex. Frey was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neither Wal-Mart nor the private security firm that employed Campbell returned calls for comment. The Harris County Sheriff's Homicide Unit, the Office of the Inspector General and the Harris County District Attorney's Office are investigating the shooting.